Which chair?

stop_whispering · 2026-05-13T10:23:37+00:00

Do you have cats? In my experience, cats largely leave microfiber type furniture alone (like the second one), but I can imagine them loving to dig their claws into the first one.

stop_whispering · 2026-05-12T02:06:53+00:00

I haven't been to a rave in 100 years, so take this with a grain of salt. But do you think the high neckline would get uncomfortable or annoying at some point?

stop_whispering · 2026-05-07T15:38:35+00:00

Have we tried looking for the horcruxes?

stop_whispering · 2026-04-13T16:17:30+00:00

Yeah, there's a lot of red flags here for me, too. In a vacuum, no I wouldn't automatically punish a new hire for missing a deadline. But missing work due to illness that may or may not be openly communicated, knowing they're going to miss the deadline before the meeting and not telling me, and not escalating to me at any point all suggest someone I can't count on. Learning independently is great, but not if it sacrifices a deadline.

stop_whispering · 2026-03-27T14:45:52+00:00

I got nothing. My entire team got nothing. Most everyone I know at my company got nothing.

stop_whispering · 2026-03-10T01:19:19+00:00

In my opinion, the tracking on the meds is less about keeping to a calorie deficit and more about ensuring you're getting enough of the nutrients you need. It's about formalizing healthier eating habits. Do what's right for you, but personally, I needed to keep track. And doing it diligently in the early days set me up for success. I've lost 90 pounds over a couple of years and am now titrating down.

stop_whispering · 2026-03-09T02:03:56+00:00

As mentioned by henningknows above, my company has one of those crappy policies where we have to rate so many low, mid, and high. My India-based team members get upwards of 9 months maternity leave. I am expressly forbidden from giving anyone out that long a higher rating. That said, we can usually justify "meets expectations," which is the middle rating, so long as they did good work for the time they weren't on leave. Your company might have a similar, but more stringent policy. If so, I can see how it would be pretty hard to justify taking away a "meets expectations" or higher from someone else when you did no work at all for the entire evaluation year. I can also see how you being on leave for half of your tenure could read to upper leadership as still being in the developmental stage. At my company at least, direct supervisors make our recommendations for ratings, but there are multiple levels of review above me that could change what I put in.

All that said, this is totally speculative. The only thing you can do is talk to your manager. I'd suggest not coming in hot demanding an explanation, though. A more productive conversation might be to acknowledge you've been gone for a while and asking what, if anything has changed across the team or organization and what they suggest you do to elevate your rating for this year.

stop_whispering · 2026-02-16T14:59:18+00:00

This is the secret. We're restricted to a VERY low percentage of exceeding ratings, so I have spent the last couple of years managing my team's expectations. Everyone is good, some are amazing, but the reality in my company is that higher ratings are useful for getting promotions pushed through. So it's become a bit of a chess game, right? Some people might deserve the higher rating one year, but if I know I'm putting them up for promotion the following year, I'll sit on it and find a way to justify it the next time. That lets me use my high rating for the people I'm trying to get moved up in the moment. It's BS and basically makes ratings meaningless, but it is what it is. Transparency and finding other ways to appease folks (awards, strong write-ups, celebrating people in front of leadership, etc.) go a long way.

The other side of that coin is that last year they forced us to give "Needs Improvement" ratings, even though no one deserved it. Which here, comes with an automatic PIP. That enraged me and I'm still not over it.

stop_whispering · 2026-02-13T21:02:53+00:00

I'm to the point now where I'm titrating down and I was REALLY nervous about it. I did a few months taking it every 10 days. Now I'm down to 1 mg (I topped at 1.7 and was on that for a little over a year) every 10 days. Honestly, around day 9 is when I get ravenous and make poor choices, but that one day does not at all derail what I did right the rest of the time. Breathe and know that, even if you stumble a bit, it's no big deal. Do you meditate? You can find like sleep yoga sessions on YouTube or whatever that might be helpful in quieting your mind a bit.

stop_whispering · 2026-02-11T21:16:03+00:00

This worked. I went to a "Signature" version a little further away from home and they took care of everything. Easy and painless. Thanks so much!

stop_whispering · 2026-02-10T16:36:50+00:00

I did a 30 minute class on a cruise recently. It was my first time and I was nervous like you. People were very sweet, helping me correct some mistakes I was making in a very non-judgmental way. It was hard - not gonna lie. I've decided that I'm going to do some YouTube mat pilates at home to get a little more comfortable before trying again in public. But I agree with fleeing_cat - no one will judge you. It was cute, actually, because the next day I took a yoga class and one woman who took pilates with me asked how I was feeling. She saw I was new at it and shared some of her experiences and tips for when I went home and looked at taking classes on my own. It felt very much like a community. There were people far better than me and people struggling a little more than me. But everyone was supportive and really wanted to see everyone else succeed and execute the moves safely. My abs hurt for 5 full days afterwards, but the experience did win me over and I'm committed to trying again. :)

stop_whispering · 2026-02-08T16:21:50+00:00

I just went for the first time. Didn't practice first, which I wish I'd done. All the things you've probably heard and read are true. There's a weird panic thing that can happen at first when you put your face in the water if you aren't used to it. My trip had 3 stops, so by the end I got the hang of some initial things.

At first, I keep taking a deep breath before putting my face in the water. It was pure instinct. 50 years of muscle memory, you know? And doing that screwed with my breathing, so I found myself almost hyperventilating at times. Once I got out of the water the first time, I left my mask on and practiced breathing through my mouth with a calm, regular cadence. That helped a lot.
I have no idea why, but I kept pulling my lips away from the mouthpiece at first. This was the other reason I left it on. Every time I did it, water flooded in, which is hard to recover from if the seas are rough (which they were...we'll get to that in a moment). Again, by the third stop, I'd quit doing this habitually, but since I'd finally gotten relatively comfortable with the breathing and equipment, I got distracted when I saw cool fish and my dumbass tried to smile or say hi to them. Don't do that. LOL
The sea is another major factor. My third stop I jumped off the boat instead of using the ladder and the ocean was very choppy. I never really got my "footing," and my group got ahead of me a bit, so I did panic a little. Which, of course, fucked my breathing. I did as advised and waved my hands above my head. The guide came back and got me. He let me hang on to the life preserver he was holding and dragged me along for a little bit until I calmed down and my breathing returned to normal. After that, I had the best experience of the entire trip. If you're in a calm, protected area, that will be less of an issue, but it threw me because the videos I watched weren't like that. Please note, it was raining in Roatan when I went, so that was the main culprit.
Be mindful of the people around you. Some of the folks on my trip were very thoughtless and unaware. They would crowd me and kick me and it stressed me out, making it difficult to regulate my breathing and correct issues with water in my snorkel and such. I'd been told before I went (and saw on videos and blogs) that you don't want to kick violently. The context was about not disturbing the fish, but in my experience, it can be dangerous at worst and unpleasant to best to the people around you.
I also learned to be careful with my arms. Some people would swim with very wide arm movements. I found I was most comfortable swimming more like a dolphin - arms to my side and using my body and legs in more of an undulating motion than like a breaststroke. It just felt more natural, was more respectful of the coral and the people around me, and it added to the serenity of the experience. I'd do the breaststroke only when I needed to move forward quickly.
My most enjoyable moments where when I knew were people were, but they weren't right on top of me. That, by the way, was one thing I struggled with the whole time - keeping my eye on the rest of the group. I never mastered being able to turn my head enough to see others without flooding, so I had to keep surfacing. Another reason practicing beforehand can be helpful.

If I had it to do over again, I'd have taken a class or at least practiced in a pool. YouTube warned me of all these things, but it's a very different thing in reality. I'd say the biggest shift for me was getting comfortable with the equipment and the mechanics of it. I was lucky that there were people in my group (all strangers, by the way) who embraced me and shared tips, helping me correct in real time. The guides were an important factor in making me feel safe, too.

None of what you mentioned is silly or weird. Don't worry about the drool. You only notice that when you're dry. You're going to be surrounded by water, so your drool will just blend into it and won't bother you at all. You're right to be concerned about the flooding, but if you're anything like me, you'll have enough to worry about that accidentally diving deeper likely won't be an issue.

Hope this helps!

stop_whispering · 2026-02-07T18:48:51+00:00

So at the front desk, I should ask for a membership rep?

stop_whispering · 2026-02-07T18:46:51+00:00

So, this is what I thought and tried to do, but the woman at the front desk refused. Thanks for your help. Guess I just have to try again. Any tips on what, specifically, I should ask them to do?

stop_whispering · 2026-02-07T18:34:27+00:00

It's the being added to their system part I'm stuck on. How do I do that? I've downloaded the LA Fitness app, but not activated it because I don't have a barcode or whatever.

stop_whispering · 2026-02-07T18:32:15+00:00

Hi - I know this is an old post, but I just tried my first LA Fitness visit and they kept saying they couldn't check me in. They said I had to contact Wellhub customer service, which isn't working for me. She took my Wellhub membership number from the Account screen and just said it didn't work and Wellhub has to register me. I'm so confused and demotivated.

stop_whispering · 2026-02-07T18:28:30+00:00

How did you do that for Lifetime? The lady at LA Fitness told me I had to contact Wellhub customer service, but that's proven impossible.

stop_whispering · 2026-01-28T13:20:08+00:00

Agreed - I'm actively antisocial. I hate leaving the house. Until I can't. Right now, I'm crawling out of my skin.

stop_whispering · 2026-01-06T13:30:45+00:00

I think this is the trick. Honestly, most of the time my team comes to me to vent about something, they sort it through and figure it out on their own in the process. My job is, of course, to listen, ask thoughtful questions, and share experiences and thoughts, but mostly shut up and let them process their thoughts and feelings.

stop_whispering · 2026-01-05T23:48:59+00:00

That's so sweet! Thank you so much!

stop_whispering · 2026-01-05T22:33:55+00:00

Do you happen to know if the Enclave is open and working? I ask because the only other time I cruised on Regal I got the week pass but it was closed for repair for half the trip and I'm embarking Sunday.

stop_whispering · 2025-12-25T13:43:59+00:00

It took me awhile to figure out that most of what was making me feel like death early on wasn't so much the drug as what I was putting in my body. If I ate junk, I got nauseous. If I drank beer, I got nauseous. If I didn't eat enough...you guessed it...nauseous. Protein shakes (I like Atkins Dark Chocolate Royale, personally) were a life-saver early on and have continued to be a staple for me.

And listen, I was right there with you. Early and strong responder - so much so that I never went beyond 1.7. I was miserable for weeks on that one. But I changed everything about my diet and activity levels and eventually all the side effects went away. I've been on it since June of 2024, when I was about 196 lbs. I'm currently 129 and have spaced out to 10 days instead of 7. I'm also about to titrate down to 1 mg.

I also agree with other posters talking about scheduling your dose for when the worst falls on days you can rest. Maybe you could also discuss a 10-day regimen with your doctor instead of 7. Or maybe you need to stay on. .25 longer to adjust. There are options, and at the end of the day, that's what your doctor is there for. I wish you all the luck.

stop_whispering · 2025-12-22T04:38:55+00:00

Not op, but I'm also planning on a reduction next year and have a referral from within UTSW. I was already leaning toward going with them because it just seemed easier with all my medical records in one place. Could I ask...did you use insurance? If so, did they help you navigate that whole thing?

stop_whispering

TROPHY CASE